intelligible

[in-tel-i-juh-buhl]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR intelligible ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

capable of being understood; comprehensible; clear: an intelligible response.

Philosophy. apprehensible by the mind only; conceptual.

Origin of intelligible

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin intelligibilis, equivalent to intellig- (see intelligent) + -ibilis -ible

Related formsin·tel·li·gi·ble·ness, nounin·tel·li·gi·bly, adverbhalf-in·tel·li·gi·ble, adjectivehalf-in·tel·li·gi·bly, adverbself-in·tel·li·gi·ble, adjectivesem·i-in·tel·li·gi·ble, adjectivesem·i-in·tel·li·gi·bly, adverb

Can be confusedintelligent intelligible intellectual (see synonym study at intelligent)

Synonyms for intelligible

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR intelligible ON THESAURUS.COM

1. distinct, lucid, coherent.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for intelligibly

easily, quietly, commonly, openly, honestly, directly, naturally, sensibly, loudly, intelligibly, candidly, frankly, modestly, ordinarily, sincerely, guilelessly, ingenuously, matter-of-factly, reasonably, clearly

Examples from the Web for intelligibly

Contemporary Examples of intelligibly

Can we intelligibly aggregate hundreds of millions of individual opinions into one or a few collective opinions?
The Sequestration 'The Public' Deserves?
David Frum
March 5, 2013

Historical Examples of intelligibly

He only insists that this natural fitness shall be intelligibly explained.
Cratylus
Plato
I did not comprehend the service, and cannot intelligibly describe it.
Glances at Europe
Horace Greeley
Who was going to take him over the house, explain things to him intelligibly?
They and I
Jerome K. Jerome
No one in this hotel could speak a word of English intelligibly.
Autumn Impressions of the Gironde
Isabel Giberne Sieveking
Failing in that, the proof was intelligibly found in the weekly returns.
Thirty Years' View (Vol. I of 2)
Thomas Hart Benton

British Dictionary definitions for intelligibly

intelligible

adjective

able to be understood; comprehensible

philosophy

capable of being apprehended by the mind or intellect alone
(in metaphysical systems such as those of Plato or Kant) denoting that metaphysical realm which is accessible to the intellect as opposed to the world of mere phenomena accessible to the senses

Derived Formsintelligibility or intelligibleness, nounintelligibly, adverb

Word Origin for intelligible

C14: from Latin intellegibilis; see intellect

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for intelligibly

intelligible

adj.

late 14c., "able to understand," from Latin intelligibilis, intellegibilis "that can understand, that can be understood," from intellegere "to understand" (see intelligence). In English, sense of "capable of being understood" first recorded c.1600. Related: Intelligibly.